ON THE FIGHT
After six months of clearing improvised explosive devices, providing blast analysis and clearing roadways, the nearly 40 explosive ordnance disposal Airmen assigned to Joint Task Force Paladin South 966th Air Expeditionary Squadron are headed home, but not before being recognized for their achievements. Thirty-six Airmen were awarded the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and NATO Medal. Eighteen received the Bronze Star, 16 received the Army Commendation Medal, two received the Army Achievement Medal and one Airman was awarded the Purple Heart.
The Obama administration hasn’t ruled out having the Air Force play a lead role in transporting troops and equipment for an African-led intervention to dislodge militant Islamists in Mali. The United Nations Security Council is weighing whether to approve a West African force of about 3,300 troops to take over the desert expanses of the country’s northern half, which broke away following a March coup. Mali’s neighbors and western countries are worried that the Texas-sized area has become the world’s largest safe haven for militant Islamists.
ON THE FORCE
Although there has been an ever-increasing demand for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to help scour hostile ground, the Navy plans to cut nearly a quarter of its highly specialized multi-intelligence aircraft in the next few years. Critics, including Navy officers familiar with the program, warn the cuts will degrade intelligence gathering for not just the Navy, but also land forces that have depended on the planes for combat operations. It’s been a concern that Congress was well aware of, though the Pentagon has certified there will be no lack of intelligence assets.
The Army Contracting Command plans to shut down its Washington, D.C.-area contracting office, one of its six such centers it operates in the continental U.S., in the middle part of next year. The reason’s not entirely about shrinking military budgets. Rather, in the Washington area, ACC is only one fish in a huge pond of acquisition talent, said Maj. Gen. Camille Nichols, the contracting command’s commanding general. "We had great folks there, but we couldn’t compete in the national capital region to retain all of that talent."
ON SECRECY – OR LACK THEREOF
Since 9/11, a quiet intelligence revolution has been brewing inside many of America’s leading companies. Hotel chains, cruise lines, airlines, theme parks, banks, chemical companies, consumer products manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and even tech giants have been developing in-house intelligence units that look and act a lot like the CIA. These organizations don’t steal competitor trade secrets or wiretap your phones. But many conduct surveillance of customers, visitors, and employees to collect information and spot potential threats. Some run "red team" exercises that involve dressing in disguise and casing company locations to test the security.
CONTRACT WATCH
Air Force Space Command wants to make a special purchase: shiny new iPads.
"The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency intends to award a sole source contract to Oracle America, Inc., to provide continued application support and maintenance to the Financial Information Tool Suite."
Robert Caruso is a veteran of the United States Navy, and has worked for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Business Transformation Agency and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
